1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to differential amplifiers in general and in particular to complementary differential amplifiers having extended linearity and dynamic ranges.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bipolar linear integrated circuit designs rely heavily on the use of differential gain stages to achieve many functions. In particularly, almost all operational amplifiers, comparators, timers, etc., have such a differential amplifier as their input stage. The benefits of such differential stages are well known; however, all have one important limitation in that the input voltage signal range is limited to a few millivolts before significant gain reduction occurs. In addition, the output current is limited to the value of the bias current available.